1947 Cleveland Browns Season - Offseason and Roster Moves

Offseason and Roster Moves

Cleveland finished with a 12–2 regular-season record and won the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) championship in 1946, the league's first year of play. Despite the team's strength, however, head coach Paul Brown made a number of roster moves before the beginning of the 1947 season. He signed Tony Adamle, a fullback and linebacker who joined the team even though he had two years of college eligibility left at Ohio State University, and guard Bob Gaudio, another Ohio State player. Guard Weldon Humble, who Brown recruited out of Rice University in Texas, also joined the team. In the Browns' biggest trade of the offseason, Brown sent end John Harrington to the Chicago Rockets for Bill Boedeker, a halfback. Perhaps the most significant signing, however, was punter Horace Gillom, who had played for Brown at Massillon Washington High School and who Brown had recruited to Ohio State before World War II. Gillom could kick the ball further than most punters of his era. He changed the way teams approached punting by lining up 15 yards behind the center instead of the customary 10 yards to give himself more space and time to make his kicks. Gillom was also the third black player to sign with the Browns at a time when many teams did not employ African-Americans. Cleveland chose fullback Dick Hoerner in the AAFC draft, but he signed instead with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League.

The Browns also made a number of changes to the coaching staff before the season. Bob Voigts, the tackles coach in 1946, left to become head football coach at Northwestern University. Bill Edwards, a former schoolmate of Brown's at Massillon, was hired to replace him. Red Conkright, the end and center coach in 1946, left for an assistant coaching job with the Buffalo Bills; he was replaced by Dick Gallagher. Creighton Miller, meanwhile, who had served as a backfield coach, left the Browns staff to get a law degree.